
Elliott Marston (1836-1880) was an Australian landowner who owned the Marston Waters ranch in Western Australia during the late 19th century. In 1880, he unsuccessfully attempted to hire the American hired gun Matthew Quigley to help him eradicate the Aborigines amid the Australian frontier wars, resulting in a disgusted Quigley angrily throwing Marston out of his own home twice. This led to a vendetta between the two men which resulted in Marston's death.
Biography[]
Elliott Marston was born in Western Australia, Australia in 1836, the son of British immigrants. His parents were massacred during an Aboriginal raid, leaving Marston with a hatred for the island's indigenous peoples. Marston soon grew fascinated with the conflicts between the white American settlers and the Native American peoples of the American West, as well as with the stories of gunfighters such as Wild Bill Hickok; he even taught himself the art of the quickdraw with a Colt 1860 Army revolver.

Matthew Quigley showing his gun to Marston
Marston came to be a wealthy landowner, owning the sprawling Marston Waters ranch in the Outback desert and employing predominantly Irish convict laborers as hired hands and guards, with British Army veteran Tony Dobkin serving as his right-hand man. He also had an arrangement with the British major Ashley Pitt, by which he would turn over British Army deserters to the Major in exchange for his protection. In 1880, Marston hired the American sharpshooter Matthew Quigley to come to Australia, supposedly to shoot dingoes who had been threatening Marston's ranch. Marston was intrigued by Quigley, who immediately demanded the £50 Marston had promised him just for coming to Australia, and who went on to demonstrate his marksmanship abilities at Marston's behest. Marston, in turn, demonstrated his own quickdraw abilities by executing the British Army deserters Cary Allen and Morton Philpot after they came to his ranch to flee from Major Pitt. When Quigley joined Marston for dinner, however, he deduced that Marston had an ulterior motive, as Marston had enough men to kill every dingo for miles. Marston proceeded to explain his background, his fascination with the West, his belief that the Aborigines should be dealt with in the same way as the American Indian, and his intent for Quigley to use his long-ranged rifle to help kill Aborigines. Quigley, disgusted with Marston's racism, threw him through his glass window twice, causing Marston to have Quigley beaten and dumped in the Outback along with his female acquaintance, "Crazy Cora", intending to "let Australia kill him."

Marston in 1880
However, Quigley and Cora survived with the help of the Aborigines, and, after the bodies of two of Marston's men were discovered in the desert, Marston discovered that the two Americans were still alive. Marston repeatedly sent search parties to track down Quigley and Cora, but Quigley and the Aborigines fought them off; several more of Marston's men tracked Quigley down to the fishing village of Meekathanga, but they were only able to kill an innocent German woman before Quigley killed all but one of them and sent the last one to warn Marston that he was coming for him.
Death[]

Marston confronting Quigley
Quigley later rode to Marston Waters and besieged the ranch for a full day, killing all of the guards but Dobkin and Ben O'Flynn, who succeeded in ambushing, wounding, and capturing Quigley and dragging him back to the ranch. Marston was amused that the half-alive Quigley had nothing clever to say upon returning, and he had O'Flynn and Dobkin stand Quigley up, cut him loose, and leave Quigley's rifle on the ground in front of him. However, he then had them throw it away, and he had O'Flynn grab his second revolver. He told Quigley that he knew how much Quigley wanted his rifle with him at the moment, but said that he had a better idea. He had a reluctant O'Flynn put the revolver in Quigley's belt, and he recalled how Quigley had earlier said that he was not too familiar with Colonel Colt's revolver. Marston sneered that Quigley would be given his first lesson, and he had him stand in front of his old aiming target as he backed up and told Quigley that his guards would ensure that they had a fair fight.

Marston's body
Marston then remarked that, "Some men are born in the wrong century," and that he felt he was born in the wrong continent. Marston also jokingly added, "Oh, by the way, you're fired," and Quigley, after freeing his hands from his cut-loose bonds, remarked, "This ain't Dodge City. And you ain't Bill Hickok." When Marston reached for his holster to draw, Quigley rapidly shot Marston and his two employees dead before any of them could clear leather. Quigley then walked over to a dying Marston and taunted him about his mastery of the Army revolver, telling him, "I said I never had much use for one. Never said I didn't know how to use it." Marston then breathed his last, and his loyal Aboriginal butler Kunkurra gave Quigley back his rifle and stripped off his European clothing, returning to his fellow Aborigines and rejecting assimilation.